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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, December 17, 2020

VARIETY ANNOUNCES OSCARS INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

 SHORTLIST ROUNDTABLE AT MIAMI FILM FESTIVAL

Miami, FL – Variety has announced it will continue its multi-year partnership with Miami Dade College’s Miami Film Festival on Variety’s 93^rd Academy Awards International Feature Shortlist Roundtable in 2021. The virtual panel will feature the director, writer or producer of the Oscars shortlisted International Feature Films and be moderated by Variety’s Film Awards Editor Clayton Davis. The Roundtable will be hosted by Variety’s Streaming Room on Friday, March 5, 2021, Miami Film Festival’s Opening Day and the first day of Oscar nomination voting. The event is free to attend, with registration required for access. Registration will open at a later date.

“Variety has been finely attuned to the international cinema competition at the Oscars since its inception in the 50’s. Following the success of Parasite last year, there’s never been more attention on the category nor has there ever been a more exciting array of films from international talent,” said Steve Gaydos, Variety executive vice president of global content and executive editor. “We look forward to showcasing this year’s contenders with the Miami Film Festival on March 5.”

“Miami Film Festival has long held a strong affinity with this great Oscar category, having screened such winners as Parasite, Belle Epoque, The Secret in Their Eyes, The Salesman, Cinema Paradiso, Babette’s Feast and more in our official selection over 38 years,” said Jaie Laplante, Miami Film Festival executive director and co-director of programming. “We are excited to continue recognizing the very best of world cinema and join in partnership with Variety to celebrate the 2021 shortlist.”

Ninety countries have submitted entries for consideration in the Best International Feature Film category. During the week of January 25, the festival will announce its own shortlist of International Feature submissions that will screen during the March 2021 event.  Earlier this year, the Miami Film Festival laureled six submitted films as Official Selections including The Sleepwalkers (Argentina), The Mole Agent (Chile), La Llorona(Guatemala), Night of the Kings (Ivory Coast), Aleli (Uruguay) and Once Upon a Time in Venezuela(Venezuela). The Academy Awards will announce their shortlist in this category on February 9, 2021 and they will be featured in Variety’s March 2, 2021 issue.

Now in its 38^th year, the Miami Film Festival dates are March 5-14, 2021 in a hybrid format, offering both in-theater and on-line experiences. The 2020 winner of the Best International Feature Film Oscar was Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite from South Korea, a film that went on to make history as the first non-English language winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture and screened at the 2019 Miami Film Festival GEMS edition.

About Variety
Now celebrating its 115^th year anniversary, Variety is the seminal voice of the entertainment industry. Featuring award-winning breaking news reporting, insightful award-season coverage, must-read feature spotlights and intelligent analysis of the industry’s most prominent players, Variety is the trusted source for the business of global entertainment. Read by a highly engaged audience of industry insiders, Variety’s multi-platform content coverage expands across digital, mobile, social, print and branded content, events and summits.

In May 2019, Variety’s “Actors on Actors” on PBS took home a Daytime Creative Arts Emmy award and has been awarded the Emmy for best entertainment programming at the 67^th and 68th Emmy Awards. “Actors on Actors,” an interview special that features pairings of prominent actors discussing their craft, was produced by PBS SoCal in partnership with Variety Media, LLC. Follow Variety on Facebook facebook.com/variety; Twitter, @variety; Instagram, @Variety. The Variety Group – Variety, Variety.com, Variety Insight, Indiewire – is owned by Variety Media, LLC, a division of Penske Media Corporation.

About Miami Dade College’s Miami Film Festival                               
Celebrating cinema in two annual events, Miami Film Festival GEMS in October and its 38th annual edition March 5-14, 2021, Miami Dade College’s Miami Film Festival is considered the preeminent film festival for showcasing Ibero-American cinema in the U.S., and a major launch pad for all international and documentary cinema. The annual Festival welcomes more than 45,000 audience members and more than 400 filmmakers, producers, talent and industry professionals. It is the only major festival housed within a college or university. In the last five years, the Festival has screened films from more than 60 countries, including 300 World, International, North American, U.S. and East Coast Premieres. Major sponsors of Miami Film Festival include Knight Foundation, Telemundo, NBC6, American Airlines, Estrella Damm, State of Florida and Miami-Dade County. The Festival also offers unparalleled educational opportunities to film students and the community at large. For more information, visit miamifilmfestival.com or call 305-237-FILM (3456).